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2008 Summer Olympics facts for kids

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Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Host city Beijing, China
Motto One World, One Dream
(Chinese: 同一个世界 同一个梦想)
Nations 204
Athletes 10,942 (4,637 women & 6,305 men)
Events 302 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
Opening 8 August
Closing 24 August
Opened by
Cauldron
Stadium Beijing National Stadium
Summer
Athens 2004 London 2012
Winter
Turin 2006 Vancouver 2010

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, were celebrated in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24. The opening ceremony began at 08:08:08 pm CST (12:08:08 UTC) at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, People's Republic of China. During the games, 10,500 athletes competed in 302 events in 28 sports. This is one event more than what was on the schedule of the 2004 games.

The Olympic games were awarded to Beijing after a vote of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 13 2001. The official logo of the games, titled "Dancing Beijing," features a stylised calligraphic character jīng (京, meaning capital), meaning the host city. The mascots of Beijing 2008 are the five Fuwa, each representing both a colour of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture. The Olympic slogan, One World, One Dream, calls upon the world to unite in the Olympic spirit. Several new NOCs have also been recognised by the IOC.

The Chinese government used the games to promote China as an important and powerful country, and spent a lot of money on building new facilities and transportation systems for the games. The events were held in 37 places, including 12 newly-built buildings. In 2007, former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said that he thinks that the Beijing games will be "the best in Olympic history". Although there was been some controversy about having the games in China, the IOC's former president Jacques Rogge said that the IOC has "absolutely no regrets" in choosing Beijing to host the 2008 games.

Medal table

At the end of the Olympics, China won the total gold medal count, while the United States led the grand total medal count.

Here is the top of the medal table at the end of the games.

Medal numbers shown in bold are the highest in their section. China, the host nation is highlighted in lavender.

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China China (CHN) 51 21 28 100
2 United States United States (USA) 36 38 36 110
3 Russia Russia (RUS) 23 21 28 72
4 United Kingdom Great Britain (GBR) 19 13 15 47
5 Germany Germany (GER) 16 10 15 41
6 Australia Australia (AUS) 14 15 17 46
7 South Korea South Korea (KOR) 13 10 8 31
8 Japan Japan (JPN) 9 6 10 25
9 Italy Italy (ITA) 8 10 10 28
10 France France (FRA) 7 16 17 40


Olympic rings.svg Olympic Games
Summer Games: 1896, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, (1916), 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028
Winter Games: 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
Athens 2004Turin 2006Beijing 2008Vancouver 2010London 2012Sochi 2014Rio 2016Pyeongchang 2018Tokyo 2020

Games in italics will be held in the future, and those in (brackets) were cancelled because of war. See also: Ancient Olympic Games

Olympic rings.svg Youth Olympic Games
Summer Games: 2010, 2014, 2018
Winter Games: 2012, 2016, 2020
Singapore 2010Innsbruck 2012Nanjing 2014

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Pekín 2008 para niños

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